Dragons' Christmas
by BlaiseCandell
Summary: Yuto hated the upbeat songs that played on the roads, he hated the way that everyone seemed so damn happy and amazed that wow, he had such a special birthday, Christmas— Or, a ton of Christmas celebrations with the Sakaki brothers. (Takes place in the canon of Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V—Dragon's Awakening)


**A/N:** **Just a note, but this takes place in the canon of Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V—Dragon's Awakening, and you may not understand some parts of it without having read Dragon's Awakening. Still, I hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas, everyone!**

 **December 25th, 3127AD**

The sound of what sounded like a banshee wailing could be heard from the room.

"Yusho Sakaki I'll kill you!"

Yusho sighed. It seemed like the scans had not been entirely accurate. Although the doctor had prepared them for twin sons, and they had prepared names accordingly, apparently they were now expecting four new sons to this world.

The screeching stopped, and a doctor came out of the room to call Yusho in. There were four babies sitting on the arms of the doctors and Yoko was giving him a murderous stare. "We are not having any more kids." She declared.

"I'll agree with you on that." He replied. His sons were right there—with four different, sparkling eyes. The youngest had crimson red eyes, the same colour as a rose. The next had sapphire blue eyes, and a curious light in them. The second oldest had violet eyes, and a strange whimsical look as his eyes focused on Yusho. And the oldest had steel grey eyes.

They were his sons.

"So what are we going to name them? I mean, we already have Yuto and Yuri, but we have to come up with two more." Yoko petted one of the boys' heads affectionately.

Yusho stepped forward. Immediately, one of the boys looked towards him and he chuckled. "Fast, aren't you?" He lifted the grey eyed boy into the air. "We can name him Yuto. Playful rabbit."

Yoko nodded, before gesturing to the violet eyed boy. "His eyes remind me of plums… he can be Yuri then." She smiled at their sons fondly.

It was Yoko who came up with the new names, in the end. "Yuya and Yugo." She said, touching the red eyed one's chin. "This little one can be Yuya, and go for his goal, you know? Never looking away, heading for it straight as an arrow…"

Yuya, huh?

"And your father was named Yugo, wasn't he? We can name one of our sons after him. Yugo Sakaki."

He felt himself smile. "Alright then," he agreed. "Yuto, Yuri, Yugo and Yuya. Those will be our sons." He gave each of the boys a hug. "Happy Christmas, my sons."

 **December 25th, 3137AD**

Yuto woke up wondering if it was the end of the world as his bed shook and creaked. He heard Yuri let out a shocked yelp, but he himself was too shocked to laugh at his little brother. Yugo gave them a bright smile, bouncing on the bed. "Come on! Dad just finished cooking breakfast!"

The Sakaki household had three rooms. Originally, their dad and mum had planned for the two children they would have to share a room and each of them to take one, but then they had four children. In the end, Yugo and Yuya had taken one room, their parents another and Yuto had been left with Yuri.

It wasn't like Yuto hated Yuri or anything… but out of all his brothers, Yuri could be the most creepy sometimes.

"Stop jumping on our bed or I'll paint that motorcycle mum's planning on giving to you pink." Yuri threatened. Yugo immediately hopped off, giving Yuri an irritated look.

"Fine!" He fled down the stairs. "Yuya, let's open our presents first!"

"Don't you bloody dare!" Yuto actually did laugh this time, as Yuri practically leapt out of their bed, hair completely messed up. "Come on, eggplant-head!"

Yuto followed him down, still laughing to the Christmas tree. There, he saw presents littered everywhere. They had decorated the tree yesterday, and Yuto personally thought he had done the best job. While everyone else was fooling around with silly things (he remembered Yuya and Yugo suddenly getting themselves stuck in a bunch of lights and Yuri helping them out) he had dutifully helped mum and dad put up baubles and the globes that Yuya had begged their parents to get for their tree as decorations.

Four globes. The first was depicting a dark twilight, with the moon shining dimly above a castle and a long winding path leading from the castle to the bottom of the hill. The second was a beautiful, of rather sinister garden of pitcher plants—at least, that was what Yuri had called them; man his brother was into some crazy stuff. The pitcher plants were surrounded by tiny leaf piles.

The third depicted a street at night, with abandoned vehicles and buildings around and a single white motorcycle on the road. And the final one had a simple ring of fire in its center. Nothing more. Nothing less.

(He would never say it to Yuya, but the globes had been a good idea.)

"Come on, eggplant!" Yuri shouted. He was going through a phase now, apparently, where he felt the need to give all of them some plant related name. "Presents!"

Yuya got to open his presents first this year, since Yuto had the year before. He watched as Yuya tore open the wrapping paper and stared open-mouthed at the present.

He cleared his throat nervously. "That's from all of us."

Yuri had collected and dried flowers and leaves to paste around the notebook, and Yugo had cracked and made images ("It's called lacquer, Yuto, not that you would know.") out of seashells. And Yuto had taken the money each of them had contributed from their savings and bought the notebook itself.

"You can write about your day in it, or all that stuff—"

Yuya launched over and pulled the three of them into a quick hug. "Thank you!"

Yuri let out an awkward cough. "W-Well, it's a brother thing to do."

Yugo did the exact same thing, only his cough was even more awkward somehow. "Hey, you better have gotten us something good too, Yuya!"

Their father laughed, before he brought out a box. "This is for all four of you."

In the box were four pendants.

Their father held out the pendant of a red crystal on a gold chain to Yuya. "This is a pendulum." He said firmly. "It sways back and forth, but it always returns to where it came from." Yuto narrowed his eyes to peer at the crystal. It looked like it had a flame in it.

Next, their father moved to Yugo. His pendant was a pair of crystal rings, locked on each other. The crystal was blue and green and somehow a completely different shade each time he looked. "These two rings represent bonds." He said, passing the pendant over on its bronze chain. "Some of them are unbreakable. Cherish those."

Yuri's pendant was next, a simple rose quartz gem polished and carved into the shape of two roses entwining each other, dangling from its silver chain, each rose changing colour from its pink state until at the top of the stems, they turned red and white. "Understanding is important. Two things that may not see eye to eye at first can become a force to be reckoned with if they learn from each other."

And then… him.

"Yuto."

The gem was black diamond, and it was a simple, sharp fragment, unpolished, simply dangling freely from its silver-black chain.

His father winked. "You'll figure it out. Now let's open the rest! Time won't stop for us, and we still need to visit the Temple of Horakhty later!"

His brothers gave enthusiastic shouts, and Yuto looked towards the pendant.

He felt… he felt happy.

 **25th December, 3141AD**

He found Yuri on the staircase, looking as casually as he could around him. He nodded slightly when he saw Yuto. "I have them," he said, as though he was talking about something completely inconsequential. "I don't think there'll be any more roadblocks."

"That's good," he said shortly. He forced a smile on his face. "Let's go have breakfast, shall we?"

On the first floor, Yuya and Yugo were already devouring the food, and Yuto spotted a particularly glassy look in Yuya's eyes—probably reminicising.

Almost unwillingly, his hands clenched around his pendant.

Yuri carelessly pulled his fingers off. "No." He said simply, not bothering to tease Yuto—which was a mercy, considering how Yuri had grown up to be so different as time had gone on.

"Yuri." He hissed.

"Something going on, boys?" Yoko said with a bright smile. "Come on! Breakfast is waiting."

Yuri broke away from him with a nod.

Yoko gave them a wistful smile. "So grown up… if only we could stay young forever, huh?"

He clenched his fists under the table.

The Christmas tree was sparsely decorated this year, with just the four globes and a few baubles and the precariously balancing star. Still, it was bright. It was family.

"Mum," He said. "I love you."

Yoko looked surprised. "Oh, sweetheart. I know."

Would she? If Yoko Sakaki woke up to an empty house and nothing else, would she still believe that they loved her?

The sound of spray paint cans being opened came to them. Yuto stood up immediately, running out of the house. He saw a bunch of people—his rage became stronger, neighbours, people who had once said hello to them as they walked down the street—painting a message on the walls.

He stomped his foot on the ground. The people turned to him.

"Yuya Sakaki!" Someone shouted, only for someone to reply that the person was an idiot, couldn't he see the hair?

"I am not Yuya." He said. "I am Yuto Sakaki." He raises his duel disk. "Get off our property, or I will make you."

Of course, the neighbours didn't run away without a fight. So fucking typical. "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" He shouted. "Rebellious Lightning Disobey!"

With any luck, they would stay away. He went towards the garage and pulled out the buckets and a cloth, filling the buckets with water. He dipped the cloth in water and began cleaning off the fresh paint.

'Bring the demon out.' The message said.

Tsk. Idiots.

He heard the sound of a second cloth being dipped into water next to him, and then a whispered reply to someone shouting. "No, go back inside, be with mum. I'll handle this." Then, footsteps, both moving away and coming towards him.

Yuri began cleaning off the paint next to him. Neither of them said anything as they worked on the walls, trying to make sure that there were no traces of the paint left.

This was a horrible Christmas.

He heard Yuri exhale. "We really are the traitors here, aren't we?" He said, even as he dipped the cloth back in. Yuto didn't have to reply, they both knew how they were feeling about this. "Happy freaking birthday, Yuto. Seems like I haven't said it to you yet."

"...happy birthday, Yuri."

They continued cleaning off the paint.

Two people, too guilty to face those they were going to leave behind.

 **25th December, 3142AD**

No tree this year.

Yuto hated the upbeat songs that played on the roads, he hated the way that everyone seemed so damn happy and amazed that wow, he had such a special birthday, Christmas—

He was the last to give out his gifts this time. He passed his gifts to the intended recipients. "I went hunting in the generic card shops. They had a playset of Waboku and Trap Hole, so I got you those." Yugo nodded in thanks, though he was pretty sure his brother had no clue what the cards were.

Yuri raised an eyebrow at the innocuous looking bag. "So what did you get this year to cater to my extremely narrow tastes, hero?"

Yuto smirked. "Apple rings."

The way that Yuri's eyes lit up and he tore open the bag would forever seal itself in Yuto's memory. Yuya gave him a grin. "What's mine then?"

He felt himself flinch. Then, he sighed. He had no reason to feel guilty, did he? He had tried to find something perfect for Yuya, but nothing had felt good enough except this. "Why not open it?"

Yuya pulled open the plastic, gently.

Inside was another notebook.

A notebook covered in scarlet and violet petals, with a little green ribbon running around the cover with yellow and blue bells on it. Finally, there were shells cracked and pasted in the shape of a smile (because damn he hadn't forgotten Yugo's barb about lacquer all those years ago and he was going to prove the banana-headed boy wrong.)

He heard identical, incredulous laughs from Yugo and Yuri. The other two passed their own presents to Yuya, and he started laughing too.

Yuri shot them both an amused look. "I guess we all saw that Yuya's old one was wearing out?"

"Yeah," Yugo managed through laughing.

Yuya let out his own joyful, melodious laugh. "Well, at least I have enough for the next few years!"

Three notebooks lay in front of Yuya. It was clear which brother had given him each—Yuri's one was practically bursting with flora all over the pages, Yugo's lacquered into colourful spirals and Yuto's was just a mix of both.

They laughed.

Life was good.

"Tis the season to be jolly…"

Yuto closed his eyes, before he moved to the speakers in their house. They had all fought over it before, for their different tastes in music. "Watch a movie?" He offered.

Yuri considered it. And by considered it, Yuto meant already knew what he wanted and was screwing with them all. "Disney or nothing."

Yugo piped up. "Pixar?"

"Pixar is trash." Yuri said callously.

"How dare you!" As Yugo tried to yank out Yuri's hair, Yuya snuck over next to him with a sheepish grin. Yuto gave a rueful smile, before connecting the television to the speaker.

"Anything you want?"

Yuya considered it, before giving a bright grin. "Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal." He said, and Yuto felt himself smile too.

"Home Alone, huh? Alright then." He opened up Archives of the Old on his smart television, before he found the old movie and played it. Both Yuri and Yugo froze as the first words were said.

"Turn it off," Yugo said with exaggerated pain. "I can't watch this."

"You telling me you don't want to watch a kid completely school and humiliate other people?"

Yuri grabbed Yugo and dragged him to the sofa. The three squeezed as Yuto went to grab the popcorn. He returned to the other three still watching. Well, at least the attention span was a miracle. Longer than usual.

He passed each of them their own cup and went to get a chair—before they all dragged him onto the sofa anyway.

...yeah. Life was good.

"Moana next." Yuri demanded, and Yuto laughed.

"Yeah, I got it."

 **1st April, 3143 AD**

Yuto was the last to leave the top of the ship. It had gotten cold, and the others had already gone back inside. He held onto his pendant, the sharp crystal in his hand.

The sea was so deep, so dark.

He hummed the tune of the song. " _I have crossed the horizon to find you… I know your name."_

He heard another voice come in, soft and kind. " _They have stolen the heart from inside you… but this does not define you."_

" _This is not who you are…"_

" _You know who you are."_

Ruri Kurosaki's eyes were understanding. Maybe that was what had made him so drawn to her earlier. She skipped next to him.

"Moana, huh?"

"My brothers and I watched it together."

"Mmm. You know, the people managing Archive of the Old have a pretty big superstition about the movie." Her eyes were on him. "It tends to be particularly compelling for those who feel lost."

Lost, huh?

"Maybe. But the ones who feel lost could have already been saved from that feeling." He smiled at her. "The song is nice, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Ruri held out her hand. "Shall we go back inside? You'll get cold."

"...nah. I like being out here."

Ruri gave him a searching look, before she placed her hand over his on the railing. "Well then, I suppose I'll accompany you!" She said cheerfully. "What say you and I have a singalong?"

He chuckled. " _I've been staring at the edge of the water…"_

Things were getting better. Things had gotten worse.

He couldn't wait for next Christmas.

 **A/N:** **The last part of the chapter takes place after Chapter 5 of Dragon's Awakening. This is just a small thing I wanted to make for Christmas, so yeah! Merry Christmas, everyone!**

 **I thought that it would be nice to give all of the Sakaki brothers names with the Yuu (japanese for game) character in their kanji to reflect that they are all the heroes of this story. So Yuya's name is his canon name, while Yuto has the same Yuu character and the second character means rabbit. Yuri's secodn character is plum while Yugo's second character means language. I thought it would be funny to invoke their canon character, I guess. Plums are plants, (that one is obvious) rabbits are prey in a predator's hunting game and Yugo's name being messed up is pretty much its own meme by now.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this. It's very Yuto-centric, mostly because honestly Yuto is currently the Sakaki brother who is thinking the most about the past.**

 **All events depicted here are part of the DA canon. Thanks so much for reading, and see you soon!**

 **-Blaise**


End file.
